


Querencia

by nighting_gale17



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: British Buck, British Maddie, Bullying, Established Relationship, Estranged Siblings, Fluff and Angst, Hopeful Ending, I write way too much for this fandom, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 05:43:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17218094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nighting_gale17/pseuds/nighting_gale17
Summary: Buck has a secret.When his estranged sister suddenly arrives at the station, his secret is exposed.How will the team react?





	Querencia

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this one! It was fun to write while I take a break from my big story I'm currently writing. Thanks to my beta, evanbuckley-diaz, who without this story probably would have had a very weird ending. Let me know what you guys think! And Happy New Year!

“Hallo, I’m sorry to be a bother. I’m looking for an Evan Buckley?” A feminine voice echoed against the concrete walls of the fire station, her voice thick with a British accent.

Buck’s head jerked up immediately upon hearing her voice from where he was eating lunch with Eddie, Chim, and Hen. The latter of the three quickly ceased their bickering over the remote when they first heard the woman’s voice, glancing at Buck with confusion etched across their features.

Buck paid them no mind, however, slowly rising to his feet, his lunch discarded on the coffee table. That voice. He knew that voice.

_Come on, Evie! You’re too slow!_

“Who’s asking for him?” Cap’s voice came next, just a little too cautious, a little too wary. They’ve had more than their fair share of reporters and others with… less honorable intentions asking for the crew they occasionally see on the television. After one pulled a knife on Chimney, Bobby has refused to let any of them speak to anyone not employed by the station or first cleared by him.

“Sorry, um, his sister?” her voice was a little deeper now than he remembered, hesitant as she spoke. Her accent was just as thick though and it made his heart ache a little. “I came to surprise him but he didn’t put his address on the card. But I saw the number on the firetruck so I… thought I’d check here.”

Buck’s feet carried him slowly to the edge of the railing over-looking the area below. Her back was turned towards him but he could read her posture just as easily as he could back then. She was nervous. Shifty feet. Fingers tapping at her pant hem where she’s tried to make herself look relaxed but it’s too forced—her shoulders too tense.

Bobby’s eyes rose to meet his own then, the question clear in his eyes. _Did he know this woman? Was it safe to speak with her? Did he want to speak with her?_

The answer rested on tip of his tongue but he found himself unable to answer. His hands gripped the railing so tightly his knuckles were turning white and his knees felt like they might give out beneath him any second. It’d been years since he had last seen or heard from his sister. Did he want to speak to her now? In front of all these people? His family, yes, but… so much has changed since they were apart.

Buck found himself taking a shaky step backward before he could think about it, shaking his head at Bobby and turning away.

“I’m sorry. He does work here but he’s just gotten off a long shift.” Bless Bobby and whatever saint sent him into Buck’s life. “I’ll be sure to let him know you were here, though.”

“Thank you very much.” he could hear the disappointment in her voice and he had to shut his eyes.

_You can do better that, Evie._

A warm, familiar hand landed on his shoulder, sliding down his arm and threading his fingers with theirs. Buck took a deep breath and squeezed their hand gratefully, opening up his eyes to see Eddie’s concerned face looking back at him. He spoke no words, but his eyes did all the talking for him.

Instead of answering, though, Buck led Eddie back towards the couch, settling down on the edge as Eddie sat by his side. Hen sat on the other end of the couch with Chimney at her feet, all of them silently questioning, yet none of them pushing. Buck was grateful as he tried to get his thoughts in order, almost not hearing Bobby’s approach.

“You knew her, Buck?”

Such a simple question and yet such a complicated answer.

“Yes.” he answered finally, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the floor between his feet. “She—” he licked his lips, his mouth suddenly gone dry. “She is my sister. My older sister. But I haven’t seen or heard from her for… many years.”

_Farewell, little brother._

“What is she doing here, then? Why did she suddenly show up?” Chimney echoed the question in Buck’s own head.

“I don’t know.” At this he risked a glance up at this team—this family that he was so lucky to find and put so much work and effort into keeping together. Four years, he thinks to himself, looking back down at his and Eddie’s entwined hands. Four years he has been here and none of them know. Perhaps it was past time he share this final secret of himself with them.

“I’m sorry but—Buck, that was one of the thickest English accents I have heard off of the television.” Hen spoke up. “And you say that she’s your sister? You sound nothing alike. You told us you lived in Pennsylvania.”

“But I didn’t say I was born there.” Buck look up at this, noting the surprise in Hen’s eyes.He let the accent he has so carefully crafted for the past years drop from his voice. “I am from Pennsylvania but—before Pennsylvania, London. London, England.”

Everyone was shocked, though Buck couldn’t say he blamed them. Eddie’s hand tightened in his ever so slightly. “You’ve kept this secret?”

“Yes.” Buck suddenly shot to his feet, unable to keep still because—Jesus, how long had he been hiding this part of himself? Five years? Ten years? “Yes I have kept this a secret and I’m sorry but once I felt comfortable enough to tell the lot of you—” Is that all it took? Just listening to Maddie speak brought him back to old habits, the English accent flying over his tongue like it was the most natural thing in the world. He forced himself to take a deep breath and stop pacing behind the couch, crossing his arms over his chest. “By the time I felt comfortable enough to tell you all I was worried about how you would react. So I thought it be best if I just… didn’t.”

“Worried? Why would you be worried, mi amor?” Eddie murmured, rising to his feet and coming to a stop at Buck’s side, slowly wrapping one arm comfortingly around his waist.

“Why have you been hiding it?” Hen asked. There was only curiosity in her voice, absent of any malice, yet Chimney hissed at her to be polite anyway.

“I came to the Americas when I was fourteen. My parents had a divorce. I went with my mother and my sister stayed with my father. We moved to a small town in rural Pennsylvania where they… didn’t take kindly to my accent.” Buck explained, leaning into the support Eddie’s presence provided.

_Look at little Evan, come from across the pond._

“It brought more trouble than I thought it was worth so I trained myself to adopt an American accent. That’s partially why I go by Buck, as well. It’s more American than ‘Evan’.” Buck murmured, remembering all bullying he had to endure. The loneliness. “By the time I left Pennsylvania, I’d thought about speaking normally again but I was too worried of what other people might say.”

“You know you’d never have to worry about that with us, right?” Bobby asked, placing his hand on Buck’s arm.

“I can see that now, yeah.” Buck gave the captain a half smile, the tension in his shoulders easing as he came to that realization. Such an irrational fear yet it had a debilitating hold on his life.

“So… we good now?” Hen asked after everyone was silent for a few moments.

Buck chuckled, resting his head against Eddie’s shoulder. “Yeah. Thanks guys.”

“Are you going to keep speaking like that, then?” Chimney asked, throwing a piece of popcorn into the airing casually catching it in his mouth.

“I’d rather listen to Buck talk with that accent than hear you crunch on that nasty popcorn.” Hen grumbled.

Buck laughed along with everyone else when Chimney stuck his tongue out at Hen in faux outrage, though he did avoid the question. He wasn’t entirely sure if he would or not. It was certainly easier to speak in his mother tongue but after years of hiding it he wasn’t sure if he could just out of the blue start using it again.

“What are you going to do about your sister?” Eddie’s voice murmured quietly in his ear, too quiet for anyone else to hear him. “She’ll probably come back.”

Buck sighed, guiding Eddie towards the kitchen as Chimney and Hen continued to bicker and Bobby watched on with exasperated fondness. “I don’t know.” he said once they were out of earshot. “Eddie, I haven’t seen her since I was eleven.” His head was full of conflicting thoughts, unable to make sense of what he was feeling. “But the second I heard her voice it was like I was back in London.”

“Well, you know whatever you do, we’ll be here to support you, right?” Eddie asked, wrapping his arms around Buck’s waist and pulling him close. “And no matter what decision you make about your accent, we’ll be behind one hundred percent. We’re family.”

“I know. Thank you.” Buck smiled, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s neck and gently pressing their lips together. Eddie was right. This was his family—the family he’s spent years searching for and finally found and they accept every part of him unconditionally. This would be no different.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this one! It was fun to write while I take a break from my big story I'm currently writing. Thanks to my beta, evanbuckley-diaz, who without this story probably would have had a very weird ending. Let me know what you guys think! And Happy New Year!


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